Delete partion on USB Hardisks/flash

[marsias]

Hello.

Under Computer Management---Disk management with right click on an USB HDD or 64GB corsair Falsh disk, the option "Delete Partion" are disabled.

Both partions are extented /removable and contens no System files, they are empty.

Disk array or mirror or else ....does not exist in this partitions.

How can delete this partions?

Thanks.

Edited June 2, 2009 by marsias

[Tripredacus]

I use the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool on all my USB drives. However you could use diskpart to do it as well.

[jaclaz]

For the record.

ONLY diskpart of Vista/2008 (and 7) allows access to a USB drive set as "Removable" (typically a flash stick).

The 2K/XP/2003 version do not.

The HP USB tool will:

• delete any existing partition DATA in the MBR
  
• create a single partition spanning the entire size of the USB device
  
• create usaullay unbalanced CHS/LBA data
  

@marsias

The problem you are experiencing may be due to some incorrect previous partitioning.

It is considered "illegal" to have more than one Extended partition.

Or are you talking of two logical volumes inside a single Extended partition.

What do you actually want to do?

Simply deleting the partitions?

It's strange that you have the same problem on a flash disk (which normally is seen as "Removable") and on a Hard Disk (which usually is set as "Fixed").

Disk Management should have NO problem whatsoever on "Fixed" devices, while it won't work, or won't work fully/properly on "Removable" ones.

Easiest would be to delete the Partition table in the MBR.

You can do that easily by euther:

using beeblebrox and manually setting all entries to 0:

http://students.cs.byu.edu/~codyb/

use MBRFIX:

http://www.sysint.no/nedlasting/mbrfix.htm

MbrFix /drive <num> clean Delete all partitions in MBR

http://www.sysint.no/Download/tabid/162/la...US/Default.aspx

Make SURE (and DOUBLE SURE) to select the correct \\.\Physicaldrive number.

jaclaz

[spacesurfer]

[*]create usaullay unbalanced CHS/LBA data

It's unusual to find a spelling error on jaclaz's posts, hence I take pleasure in point it out.

I have actually wanted to do the opposite for a flash drive - namely, I want to create two partitions on my 8 GB flash drive. However, I haven't found a utility that does just that.

Can the hp utility do that? Vista's diskpart cannot accomplish that. I can create a 2 GB partition but the rest of the 6 GB goes to waste and I haven't been able to use the other space. It tells me it can't be done for this type of disk.

[jaclaz]

[*]create usaullay unbalanced CHS/LBA data

It's unusual to find a spelling error on jaclaz's posts, hence I take pleasure in point it out.

I have actually wanted to do the opposite for a flash drive - namely, I want to create two partitions on my 8 GB flash drive. However, I haven't found a utility that does just that.

Can the hp utility do that? Vista's diskpart cannot accomplish that. I can create a 2 GB partition but the rest of the 6 GB goes to waste and I haven't been able to use the other space. It tells me it can't be done for this type of disk.

Yep, like someone you might know , I renamed "usually" to "usaullay" (to have an 8 character adverb)

Unless I have some other mispelling in the batch, you can use my mkimg/mbrbatch to do so (under 2K/XP, cannot say with Vista):

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=5000

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...c=5000&st=1

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=3191

but you'll have to do some homeworks, procedure is NOT automated for multi-partitioning.

This might come handy for the calculations:

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/?showtopic=2959

Then, Swissknife:

http://www.compuapps.com/download/Swissknife/swissknife.htm

should work allright on USB devices, even those marked as removable (again on 2K/XP, cannot say Vista).

You might however need to run bootsect.exe to have the "right" bootsector.

jaclaz

Edited June 3, 2009 by jaclaz